Personal trainers adapt to gym closures during pandemicBack to video

Fortunately for many fitness professionals, they were able to take their expertise online and are finding success training clients in the digital age.

“It was quick,” said Malory Hodge, a certified trainer and owner of MH Movement. “When my first client told me she didn’t feel comfortable coming into the gym anymore, I knew it was kind of going to snowball from there.

“So I got online and ordered myself a tripod and I sent out an email to all my clients. At that point, gyms were still open but I told my clients, I understood if they didn’t feel comfortable coming into the gym and then I presented my options. I told people we could do FaceTime sessions and then I also started using an online app. I was happy I jumped on it right away and people were receptive of making the switch.”

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Online training sessions have become the new trend with restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

As with the scramble on home exercise equipment, there was also a rush to find quality online guidance.

“I flipped my business model in 24 hours,” said certified trainer Deanna Harder. “I told my clients I was going to FaceTime them at the same time they normally train and we’re going for it. Most of them said, ‘yes’.

“I already had their programs designed, so I rewrote them for body weight and whatever dumbbells or equipment they had at home and that did take a little bit of manoeuvring.”

Deanna Harder, a CSEP (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology) certified personal trainer in Edmonton poses for a picture at Custom Fit Training in Edmonton on March 18, 2020. Harder along with a number of fitness trainers in the Edmonton had to change their approach due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Derek Van Diest/Postmedia /Postmedia

Apart from having to familiarize themselves with the technology and the different online platforms available, trainers had to make do with limited home equipment.

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Deprived of gym access and with a run on weights and dumbbells leaving shelves empty throughout the country, trainers had to make do with whatever clients had at their disposal and tailored programs around it.

“People were ordering weights and trying to get a few things in the first week of April and they were gone,” Harder said. “April was a reality check and I told them to find anything they could use. I used a staircase, I used ottomans, whatever they had around the house. We filled up jugs with sand or rice or whatever else we could find.”

Trainers and clients sometimes had to get creative setting up home gyms.

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“Your body doesn’t know the difference between a 20-pound bag of soil and a 20-pound dumbbell,” Hodge said. “So when I was working with clients, I got them to send me a basic list of equipment that they had. So if they had dumbbells it was awesome, but then I’d also get them to walk around the house and get creative and write down things they thought they could use for heavier weights.

“Someone used a 25-pound baby and some used rocks from a nearby garden. It was fun, it was enjoyable to see people get creative setting their programs up.”

Heading into unchartered territory, limited strictly to online training session, there was uncertainty with how receptive the new workout methods would be received by clients. So far, the reception seems positive.

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“I think one thing people were worried about working out from home was whether they still going to get as much quality of a workout? Of course they don’t have the variety of equipment that they have at the gym,” Hodge said. “But if you have a knowledgeable trainer, we’ll be able to provide you wicked workouts that are going to keep you progressing towards your goals regardless of the equipment you have.”

Personal trainer Malory Hodge works out at Paul Kane Park in Edmonton on May 15, 2020. She trains people remotely from her home. Larry Wong/Postmedia

The two experienced trainers believe good personal relationships at the gym translated into strong online connections with clients.

“I think if you’ve never coached someone in person, you don’t know how to coach people online,” Harder said. “You need to have that in-person experience first. I feel like it’s a better transition to go in person to online in terms of coaching cues and coach properly.

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“Program design is an art form, it’s like a sculpture, like putting together a screenplay. There is a lot of thought that goes behind this. We’re tailoring these workouts for specific clients.”

As restrictions begin to be lifted throughout the province, eventually gyms and recreation centres will open and bring back traditional trainer-client relationships.

However, the success of the online model during the pandemic may lead to a permanent shift in business models for some trainers.

“It’s nice because I have a bigger reach,” Hodge said. “I’m from Slave Lake and I can’t be driving three hours to go back home and train people that want to work with me. But now that I have my online training going I’m actually working with people from my hometown. I’m working with a friend who lives with Australia, one who lives in Germany, which I couldn’t do before. So I love it.”

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